Okay, so I’m shamelessly lifting one from Mark here. He submitted this to me today as part of another entry, and I couldn’t help but think that it needed to stand on its own instead. This is the crux of it all, folks: Keep looking and places like this just jump out at you. We’re always in development here at Happy Hour, so allow me to reiterate Happy Hour Commandment #1:

1. The perfect bar is everywhere. So go there.

Leave nothing to chance, people: That place you’ve always walked by? Saunter in. Look around. Have some onion rings and ask the bartender what’s good here. Most of all - Enjoy Yourself.

Here’s Mark’s piece. Very nice. - Jimmy

“Another surprising thing happened to me today. Once more doing some Happy Hour research (I love my job), I was sitting in mid-town Manhattan in what can only be called a dive bar. The traffic and noise of New York on a weekend banged along outside, but where I sat things were fairly quiet. Not many of us were at the bar, but at the end sat a tough looking character that obviously came in often. He asked for a drink on account. “On account of what?” came the joking reply from the bartender. “On account of I’m broke”, he said. He was on his second drink when I left not having paid a dime. The bartender told him she knew he was good for it. When was the last time you saw that? And in New York, of all places. ‘Third places’ are out there, we just need to keep our eyes open. Happy Hunting.”